Ramblings of a Super Villainess

custom painted violin

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If you remember my post about getting into shoe art, those two pairs of shoes ushered in a lot of inquiries. Early this year, I was happy to take in yet another pair of Vans for customization. I figured that designing shoes, apart from my freelance illustration projects and mask making, would be a very much welcome break from my usual studio work. Anyway, this belongs to Bongkee Dela Torre, who I must say, also very skillfully does custom painted shoes. He specifically said that these are to be used for skating, and gave me a number of tips on what mix of paints to use for the design to last long. And after four days straight of beating these babies — cruising, biking, and whatnot — he confirmed that they passed the durability test.

Apparently, it wasn’t just orders for custom shoe art that came in. A few weeks later, I accepted a commissioned work for an electric guitar from my friend, Arthur Piccio of Death by Elephant. Darcy, which he fondly named his guitar, was assembled by him and is a 26″ scale lefty Gibson SG Standard copy with capiz shell trapezoid inlay. I debated with myself at first whether to paint every inch of it or not, but decided later on to come up with a design that would also let the wood finish shine through.

That little project with Arthur’s Darcy led to another commissioned painting for a musical instrument — a little girl’s violin this time. For Sofia Elise Zamora’s violin, I applied thick lines of copper paint to highlight the delicate patterns which are mostly in varying shades of pink and purple. The next time I get another project for an instrument, I hope it would be a grand piano. Yes, I’m serious about that. Believe me when I say that I’d also love to try painting helmets, a motorbike, or maybe even a car in the future and if time permits of course.

To end this post, I think it’s best that I clarify one of the frequently asked questions I’ve been getting regarding my shoe art customization stint. Kindly note that the shoes and instruments to be painted on were provided by their respective owners. Now, excuse me while I go back to the salt mines.